Day 2 was a big day of DRIVING. I cannot remember the last time I spent an entire day in the car. Hubs had us landing in Illinois, just past Chicago. A yucky hotel breakfast led us to cross 5 lanes of traffic to find omelettes and waffles at a Waffle House. The kids were into it, and I didn’t detect any danger.

LM2 wanted extra cream cheese and kept trying to stuff the little packets into my yoga pants.

“I’m just trying to put-pocket you, Mom!” he said.

LM2 also tried his hand at cleaning the windshield of the car with one of the gas-station squeegee, but got carried away and started cleaning bugs off the front and back bumpers. His dedication was appreciated.

We stopped for lunch in Vermillion, Ohio, which was on the water, but incredibly windy. We snapped a photo in front of a lighthouse on Lake Eerie and kept moving.

Dinner was a Mexican spot in Michigan City, Indiana. It looked like a fast-food place, since we stood in line to order, then sat ourselves, but we were wrong. Everything was homemade and it took about 49 minutes to get our food. It was a longer stop than we preferred, but the food was fantastic. The boys ordered Juarritos sodas in glass bottles and were DELIGHTED to use bottle openers on their Swiss Army Knives.

While we waited to order dinner, a woman in her 50s chatted our ears off about her family: upcoming weddings, living arrangements, her summer cottage, life in Chicago, and the like. We assumed this to be an example of “midwestern friendliness” and listened to her life story.

We ate our meal down at the beach, looking out at Lake Michigan. The long wait allowed us to enjoy a sunset view, which was breathtaking. Spoiler Alert: they never get old!

Tomorrow we’ve got more driving, but we’ll arrive in South Dakota.

Peaceful travel, peaceful meals, and quiet nights are filling us up! I hope you find a moment of peace in your day, too.

Share the peace!